Wall Street opposition to Trump collapses, as 'pipe dream' of primary defeat ends

• Many Wall Street executives have made a calculated decision not to speak out against Donald Trump, and in some cases they will consider supporting the Republican former president.
• "A lot of people on Wall Street have been living in this pipe dream of Trump not getting the nomination," said one financial executive.
• After Ron DeSantis came in a distant second to Trump in Iowa, several of the Florida governor's fundraisers from the financial sector received calls from Trump allies.

As Donald Trump surges toward the Republican nomination, many Wall Street executives have made a calculated decision not to speak out against him, and in some cases they will consider supporting the Republican former president over Democratic President Joe Biden, according to over a dozen people familiar with the matter.

"A lot of people on Wall Street have been living in this pipe dream of Trump not getting the nomination. People were in the first stage of [grief], denial. Now they're trying to get their heads around the fact that Trump could be the nominee," said an executive at a private equity firm. Like others in this story, the executive was granted anonymity in order to relay details of private conversations.

This view reflects one shared by large portions of Wall Street, who are scrambling to come to grips with the idea that Trump is the likely GOP nominee for president and he could beat Biden in November. A Real Clear Politics polling average Sunday had Trump leading Biden nationwide by about two points in a general election.

"It's painful for me to admit this, but Wall Street is basically nonchalant to this election," longtime Wall Street executive and former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci said in a recent interview